Using regular software on touch screen devices

I apologize in advance if I sound dumb, but I am a person who does not own a single touch screen device, so I don't know much about how things work on them. My son on the other hand does not want to use anything that doesn't have a touch screen. I'm thinking about purchasing a touch screen Windows 8 laptop for him, but I wanted to know if he'll be able to run regular software on it (I am mostly interested in maintenance programs). For instance, I regularly use Auslogics Disk Defrag and other utilities to keep my computers defragmented, cleaned up and running smooth. Can you use such software on touch-screen computers? Is there a special version of say Auslogics Disk Defrag that is meant for such computers (didn't see one on their site) or will the regular version work? What about other software.
I know I could ask each software manufacturer this question, but I wanted to hear what tech gurus here have to say about this issue in general.

As long as you do NOT buy a Windows RT machine you'll be fine. Windows 8 & 8.1 both run desktop programs just fine. Some programs may have a touch version app or have enhanced the desktop version to be easier to use with a touchscreen. You'd have to check each vendor's site for details.